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Monday, October 17, 2016

Monday Morning Sentimonies:

Riders 29 - Argos 11

Don't look now but the Riders have as many wins in the past 5 weeks as they did in the previous 18 months. They are now on the second longest win streak in the CFL, could finish with the 5th or 6th best record... and have no shot at the playoffs. I realize the Riders have no one to blame for themselves for their lack of postseason opportunity but still the fact that if they were an East time they would be in contention for a home playoff game does suck a bit. It also highlights how horriawful (a combination of horrible and awful) the East division is.

After spending the bulk of 2016 (and 2015) as the worst team in the CFL, its weird to talk about how crappy an opponent is. But man oh man are the Argos crappy. Have to assume there will be firings come November. They are playing like a team that cut all their offensive weapons and put all their faith in a QB who is terrible... oh wait. To be fair, this wouldn't be this first Willy to over promise and under deliver.

For the Riders, it was all about Joe McKnight. 150 yards rushing, 8.8 yards per carry. He was damn near more effective on the ground in the first half than the Riders were in the month of August. I for one did not see that coming. I also assumed based on how the season had gone that after how effective he had been in the first quarter that we would inexplicably stop running the ball. Temper the excitement a bit because the Argos are awful but he showed some great vision and speed. Be exciting to watch him down the stretch. Kudos also to our O-line who were run blocking really well. Some huge holes for McKnight. Given that they were pretty awful in pass protection it made me wonder why we bothered passing.

Pretty early to be thinking about training camp (though I bet many of have been since mid August)
receiver depth but I am excited about the brewing battle at import receiver. Holley, Edwards, Fuller, Collins, Roosevelt, Craig. A lot of talent there. Speaking of Joe Craig, he may have scored one of the easiest punt return TDs I've seen. He just ran in a straight line. I do like what he has been showing at returner.

I won't read too much into our defenses performance against a non-existent offensive threat other than to say they continued their strong play of late. Henoc Muamba shook off a shaky first game to have an impactful game 2. While I don't think Hecht and Bennett are the best players out there you can't over emphasize the stability they have brought to our secondary since their arrival. I would say our D just had their easiest challenge of the season but after watching the Als' game I think they have it in them to give the Argos a run for their money.

It may be too little too late in terms of winning anything but dammit this winning thing is fun!

Totally agree on the OL need to strengthen both starters and depth. I'll discuss the Montreal shit show in my game preview.

As for Toronto... have to assume Milanovich gets fired. Not sure if Barker survives. He's a good at bringing in talent. He just stuck with Ricky Ray way longer than he should have. A lot of their talent has been gutted so not a quick fix there.